It's one of my favorite weeks of the year,
this week before the New Year dawns. Christmas has passed,
but the neighborhood and at least our part of the world
remain quiet. The kids are home from school, the phone isn't
ringing nearly as often, and everything seems to be running
at about 8/10ths. It's a welcome break from the normal pace
of life and work, when we seem to always be on the rev
limiter.

This is a great time to look back on what
we've seen on and off the race track in this season just
past, while also looking ahead to the upcoming 2007
campaign. One of the best ways to get a sense of what lies
ahead for those of us who love motorsports is a trip to the
Performance Racing Industry trade show, which just marked
its 19th year of amazing growth. For the second year, Steve
Lewis and his staff staged this racer's Toyland in Orlando,
Florida.

The PRI show is an amazing thing to visit
and to contemplate. This year PRI nearly filled the huge
Orlando Convention Center with cars, engines, tires, tools,
and an incredible assortment of displays. Everything and
anything you could imagine that pertains to our sport is
right in front of you. But to me, the key to PRI lies in the
amazing range of racers and industry figures who are in
attendance. You could fill a hundred Rolodexes with the
names and numbers of the sport's movers, shakers,
journalists, and just rank and file participants who have
PRI written in boldface on their calendars a full year in
advance.

The PRI Opening Breakfast

The biggest news from this year's PRI
conclave, in my view, is an observation: as the US economy
has remained strong this year, growing at a comfortable
pace, so the motorsports economy is growing at what appears
to be an even stronger pace. There are surely challenges; I
didn't participate in any conversations at PRI this time
around that didn't center, in one way or another, on the
need for sponsorship of some sort. Few new short tracks are
being built. US carmakers are struggling, some more than
others. But all that said, a tour of PRI showed an
incredible number of new motorsports-related business
ventures all carrying projections of viability and success.
This is a great time to be in racing.

The move to Florida last year had allowed
Steve Lewis, who owns probably the strongest midget team in the
country, to stage one of his patented midget/sprint car
doubleheaders at the 1/3 mile Orlando Speedworld.

On a cold, damp night late in 2005, the racing was decent
and the crowd was sensational. This year, the PRI folks took
a few more steps toward creating a true winter Speed-Week
around the trade show.

For 2006 the new PRA group brought their paddock full of
disenfranchised pavement Silver Crown machines to the 3/4
mile USA International Speedway in Lakeland for a Wednesday
night 100 lap event.

The crowd was amazing, on a much warmer Florida evening.
I've been to USA for many broadcasts over the years and I
don't believe I've ever before seen a completely full
frontstretch grandstand, along with at least a half-full
backstretch bleacher. The infield was full as well with the
30-plus Big Cars, and a full contingent of Florida Modifieds
(think IMCA mods in pavement trim, with rule-specific
bodies).

The race itself was notable for a couple of things: a strong
run to victory by rising star Bobby Santos III in Carl
Edwards' machine, a decent drive (in his first try) by
X-Games legend Travis Pastrana, and John Heydenreich's
survival of one of the worst open-wheel wrecks seen in a
long time when he backed his Sharon Bank car into the first
turn concrete after a wheel-banging incident with Tracy
Hines.

The kart races were run in heavy rain

PRI also planned an All-Star karting event
for the parking lot outside the Convention Center for
Thursday night. Unfortunately a hard rainstorm meant
virtually no one saw this event, which amazingly enough did
run. And Friday night marked the return of the Sprint/Midget
doubleheader, with Lewis' usual $50,000 bonus up for a
double dip, at Orlando.

Interestingly this year's Friday show was run under mostly
USAC rules, though without the USAC sanction, a telling
commentary on the current state of that legendary
sanctioning body. Next year, look for the Sprint/Midget
Friday show to move also to Lakeland, and there are
rumblings that there could be more racing on tap for the
week of PRI across Central Florida.

But for me the best part of PRI is the people. I love cars,
and the technology of racing. But what makes this or any
sport appealing are the personalities.

Tony Stewart spoke at the opening breakfast

Any place where you can see drivers as
diverse as Tony Stewart, Ken Schrader, Rick Eckert, sports
car stars, local heroes, Champ Car figures, drag racers, and
more, is a place where I have to be. Plenty of business is
discussed and signed at the show; that's why display space
is spoken for long in advance of opening day each year. The
new DP-01 Champ Car chassis was on display at the
Performance Friction booth, and Ford had a large display
area highlighting their various race engine packages as well
as their race-bred Mustangs.

Unfortunately it's a trade-only show; you must work in the
industry to gain admission. But since just about all of us
who work in racing love it as fans, PRI is a delight from
start to finish. It's the year's last gathering of the clan,
so to speak, and a must-see event for all who can acquire
one of the precious entrance badges. PRI 2007 will move up a
week, lessening the holiday schedule crunch. I've made my
reservations already.

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